Rang Barangy Choozay…

I remember when I was little and used to go running into the streets along with my cousins; the moment we heard someone is selling chicks. Oh the beauty, innocence and color! I remember picking the pink one, every time. Pink was my favorite color after all. They always died, however. No matter how nicely we kept them, how much we prayed for their life’s sustainability or nurtured and fed them … they always ended up dying. I remember, then, having a funeral for each and every chooza we bought one by one. That was how we, 6 years old, were introduced to death for the first time and then many times after it.

This one time, I bought 2 yellow chicks. Mom had told me that yellow is their original color and I had realized (in time) that they all look the same – thought why not, maybe they’d live longer. Came back home from school 3 days later only to find one all stiff and cold and … yes, you guessed it, dead. It’s brother on the contrary lived a longer life. He was my first pet ever since I got the wits to have one. 3 months later, I had to give him up because of bird flu. He was cooked and eaten by the neighbor’s kaam walay people. Still dislike them for that. :3

Anyway, in time, I saw similar chicks throughout the city. Every time, I knew that as colorful as they were – the sadder it was for them. Did you know that each year baby chicks are collected together by the vendors and mixed with artificial colors that are highly dangerous to their health? Most of the chicks die during the process as well. The moment you buy a colored chick – you are actually shaking hands with death itself. The colors are cheap and poisonous for those cute little babies and, thus, even by the time they return to their original color – it has entered their skin via the feathers killing them slowly. The chicks often ingest the dye they are mixed with which is not just unhealthy but instead also indigestible for them. What does that do now? Well, it makes sure the little chicks’ internal organs stop functioning in time and they die.

Those pretty colorful chicks? Yeah. This is how they are colored. Still want a pink one, Sijdah? No way.

Another way to dye chicks is to inject the eggs before it hatches and no – it’s even more dangerous and insufferable for the chicks because, now, … they have the poison coursing through their veins. Many countries have banned chick dyeing of any sort, I wish Pakistan joins in on it soon. Moreover, it has been an ongoing debate amongst many animal foundations all around the world, for quite some time. The only difference between their outcries and ours? They were taken serious.

Take note, reader.

If you want to buy a colored chick to gift it to your nephew or niece. You’re not just promoting death but also taking a step that might in turn hurt your very beloved child-friend. What would you tell them when they ask you the reason behind its death? How would you tell them that you knew?

Not everyone is born to have a pet. Sometimes, the parents don’t appreciate an animal in the house and other times the children have zero idea on how to care for something as delicate as a chick. I remember my cousin suffocating a chick in the towel after washing it thinking it would keep it warm and healthy. So, the best thing to do before getting a kid a fragile pet is to talk to their parents as well as the child. Discuss and analyze if they can take on such a responsibility.

While many wait for the chick to die to feed it to the eagles, a few (not so) aqalmand people set them free. This is not something that should be done to a chick or even a hen that’s been captive all its life. How do you expect a child to swim when it never learned to do so? It’s bound to drown just as the chick you set free is bound to be eaten by its predator.

Those fluffy marshmallows don’t clean themselves, they need to be cleaned by someone. If you can’t keep them somewhere with wood shavings and so … it isn’t an issue – just don’t buy any. Chances are your whole home would smells of chicks and you might just end up losing control and kicking them out later on. When it’s bound to happen later – why take the chances on gifting it to death so easily?

Buying a chick should not be as spontaneous as washing your face – do a bit of research on their behaviors and get a few things for them ahead of their arrival. You will also need to keep them warm because they are very sensitive and delicate. Even a tad bit of cold is bad for them. Learn how to take care of them, therefore, before getting one!

Their fluff goes away just as their color … but so does their health.

At the end, the best thing – you, dear human, can do is be careful when buying a chick. First off, try and just don’t buy one and if it’s really that important … go for the natural colored ones. I feel bad saying this thinking that the pink, blue, green and purple ones might die in vain if no one buys them but then again if we keep buying them – they’d keep coloring them. I am in a dilemma, here, I am sure you’d know what to do better than me?

Comment and let others know, maybe?

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Published by Sijdah Hussain

After a series of heartfelt sorrows and bittersweet indications from fate itself, Sijdah turned to social work for therapeutic purposes. Without a doubt, the method didn't just calm her nerves but instead also gave her life a purpose and sense of fulfilment.
View all posts by Sijdah Hussain